Rubber Duckie Has Two Daddies

For 44 years, they’ve shared not only an apartment, but a bedroom together. Now in celebration of the recent Supreme Court decisions against the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, children’s television’s favorite fuzzy roomates have been officially outed on the cover of a national publication.

As reported in The Daily Beast, weekly magazine, The New Yorker has taken the bold step of outing Bert and Ernie in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down DOMA. Everyone’s favorite Sesame Street muppets are featured on next week’s cover embracing as they watch SCOTUS in action on TV.

The cover is the creation of artist Jack Hunter, whose image titled "Moment of Joy" was initially submitted a Tumblr page before The New Yorker grabbed it. "It’s amazing to witness how attitudes on gay rights have evolved in my lifetime," further saying, "This is great for our kids, a moment we can all celebrate," The image suggests what millions of Americans have suspected for year, that Ernie and Bert are more than just "roommates."

None of this missed the attention of American Family Association radio personality Bryan Fischer, who in a column for OneNewsNow.com said

"The tony, elitist New Yorker magazine, read by those who fancy themselves our moral and intellectual superiors, is in effect promoting child endangerment on the cover of its latest issue, and shamelessly using Bert and Ernie to do it."

The Washington Post reports, that the sexual orientation of the puppets has long been a subject of debate and fodder for comedians. According to HumanEvents.com, in response to an 2011 online petition calling for Bert and Ernie to tie the knot, the Sesame Workshop’s Facebook page offered this statement:

"Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics... they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."